Neuroglyph
First Post
Alright folks! It’s time to step away from the gaming table, pop some popcorn, grab a case of your favorite soda, and kick back with your fellow D&D enthusiasts to watch the new Dungeons & Dragons (2-Movie Collection)! 
Yes it’s true... this week, Warner Home Video packaged the Dungeons & Dragons movie (2000) with its made-for-TV sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005), into single two-movie package, which is now available on Blu-Ray.
Dungeons & Dragons (2-Movie Collection)
And for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: WRATH OF THE DRAGON GOD :
Oh, if only we knew then what we found out later at our local theatres, Mr. Whalin would have found himself fleeing Milwaukee ahead of an angry dice-hurling mob!
But just for nostalgia sake, I did go back and watch the first movie, hoping it might make me feel better about the flagship Dungeons & Dragons film. Sadly, I must confess that it did not. It’s just so hard to feel good about watching Jeremy Irons’ Profion brutally overacting to Bruce Payne’s Damodar, while Marlon Wayans spastically decimated every scene he was in with his non-funny comic-relief character called Snails. I actually cheered when he died. And do not even get me started on painfully moronic way that beholders were portrayed!
But surprisingly, I have to admit that I do have a certain genuine fondness for the sequel Dungeons & Dragons movie, “Wrath of the Dragon God”. Even though it never saw theatrical release – and frankly, after being burned out of 8 bucks for the first movie, I would have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the theatre a second time – D&D: WotDG was actually a pretty good fantasy movie. Oh, I’m not talking about an epic fantasy movie the likes of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings or any of the Harry Potter block-buster movies.
But more in the same B-movie vein like Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and Krull. Sure they aren’t great cinema, the acting is a bit forced, and the special effects are kinda hokey, but darn it, they are a helluva lot of fun to watch with your D&D gaming buddies on a cold winter evening! I can’t help it… those types of fantasy movies are one of those “guilty pleasures” that I just can’t give up.
D&D: WotDG really tried to take the material seriously, and despite the allowing Bruce Payne to reprise his role of Damodar as the main antagonist, the characters actually had a certain charm to them. They did all the cool things that D&D characters do in a real game – fight liches, battle dragons, delve into lost dungeons, solve horrible death-traps, recover artifacts, and save the world from impending doom! And D&D: WotDG did it all with complete sincerity and respect for the material, without the farcical stylings of a Wayans Brother mucking up the scenes!
And besides that, there is some great bonus material on this new Blu-Ray version which a lot of us avid fans of Dungeons & Dragons are going to want to have for their own. The documentaries and commentaries are a fun addition to the films – at least to the sequel anyways – and having the conversation with D&D creator Gary Gygax is just one of those “warm-fuzzy” things that we gamers like to enjoy now and then.
So go grab your copy of the Dungeons & Dragons (2-Movie Collection), available now on Blu-Ray, and is out at your local video stores or available from Amazon (at a nice discount). Maybe if we are lucky, and Blu-Ray sales are good, someone might even consider writing a third Dungeons & Dragons movie with a bit more flair and better direction than its predecessors.
You hear me Peter Jackson… I’m talking to you sir!
So until next review… I wish you Happy Gaming!
Yes it’s true... this week, Warner Home Video packaged the Dungeons & Dragons movie (2000) with its made-for-TV sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God (2005), into single two-movie package, which is now available on Blu-Ray.Dungeons & Dragons (2-Movie Collection)
- Starring: Jeremy Irons, Justin Whalin, Marlon Wayons, Bruce Payne (twice!), Mark Dymond, Clemency Burton-Hill
- Publisher: Warner Home Video
- Year: 2011
- Media: Blu-Ray Disc
- Cost: $19.98 MSRP ($14.99 [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-2-Movie-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B004DN2Y5O"]from Amazon.com[/ame])
- Additional Scenes, Including an Alternate Ending
- 2 Commentaries: 1) Director Courtney Solomon and Co-Star Justin Whalin and 2) Courtney Solomon,
- Cinematographer Doug Milsome and Game Co-Creator Dave Arneson
- Documentary Let the Games Begin Making-of Featurette and Special Effects Deconstruction of the Theatrical Trailer
And for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: WRATH OF THE DRAGON GOD :
- Dungeons & Dragons Heroes Commentary Featuring Wizards of the Coast
- D&D Special Projects Manager Ed Stark and Other D&D Players
- Making-of Featurette Rolling the Dice
- The Arc: A Conversation with Gary Gygax
Oh, if only we knew then what we found out later at our local theatres, Mr. Whalin would have found himself fleeing Milwaukee ahead of an angry dice-hurling mob!
But just for nostalgia sake, I did go back and watch the first movie, hoping it might make me feel better about the flagship Dungeons & Dragons film. Sadly, I must confess that it did not. It’s just so hard to feel good about watching Jeremy Irons’ Profion brutally overacting to Bruce Payne’s Damodar, while Marlon Wayans spastically decimated every scene he was in with his non-funny comic-relief character called Snails. I actually cheered when he died. And do not even get me started on painfully moronic way that beholders were portrayed!
But surprisingly, I have to admit that I do have a certain genuine fondness for the sequel Dungeons & Dragons movie, “Wrath of the Dragon God”. Even though it never saw theatrical release – and frankly, after being burned out of 8 bucks for the first movie, I would have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the theatre a second time – D&D: WotDG was actually a pretty good fantasy movie. Oh, I’m not talking about an epic fantasy movie the likes of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings or any of the Harry Potter block-buster movies.
But more in the same B-movie vein like Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and Krull. Sure they aren’t great cinema, the acting is a bit forced, and the special effects are kinda hokey, but darn it, they are a helluva lot of fun to watch with your D&D gaming buddies on a cold winter evening! I can’t help it… those types of fantasy movies are one of those “guilty pleasures” that I just can’t give up.D&D: WotDG really tried to take the material seriously, and despite the allowing Bruce Payne to reprise his role of Damodar as the main antagonist, the characters actually had a certain charm to them. They did all the cool things that D&D characters do in a real game – fight liches, battle dragons, delve into lost dungeons, solve horrible death-traps, recover artifacts, and save the world from impending doom! And D&D: WotDG did it all with complete sincerity and respect for the material, without the farcical stylings of a Wayans Brother mucking up the scenes!
And besides that, there is some great bonus material on this new Blu-Ray version which a lot of us avid fans of Dungeons & Dragons are going to want to have for their own. The documentaries and commentaries are a fun addition to the films – at least to the sequel anyways – and having the conversation with D&D creator Gary Gygax is just one of those “warm-fuzzy” things that we gamers like to enjoy now and then.
So go grab your copy of the Dungeons & Dragons (2-Movie Collection), available now on Blu-Ray, and is out at your local video stores or available from Amazon (at a nice discount). Maybe if we are lucky, and Blu-Ray sales are good, someone might even consider writing a third Dungeons & Dragons movie with a bit more flair and better direction than its predecessors.
You hear me Peter Jackson… I’m talking to you sir!
So until next review… I wish you Happy Gaming!
